Cool Stuff

Friday, March 25, 2011

In March of 2011, we have seen Japan and Myanmar come to the forefront of nations shakeen by an increasingly unsettled earth. We've been saddened by scenes of death and destruction and we know that there will be more, but we cannot avert our eyes.

We've wondered as radiation leaks from a compromised Fukuskima nuclear facility, just how many will be contaminated; both within and without the evacuation zone? Are we being told the truth? We cannot help but to lean toward the skeptical side. In Japan, many remain poisoned by leaking radioactivity and many others buried under concrete and rubble. As you read this, you may be buried and poisoned as well; in a spiritual sense....(more here)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Whoever desires let him take of the water of life freely. Our Lord does not build dams to hold back the River of Life; it is the hand of man by which these dams are built. We as Storm Troopers must endeavor to be dam

This writer is burdened with a sense of urgency and yet love and grace are required now. Time is of the essence as the Storm is building in intensity and lives will be lost. We who have freely partaken of the water of life must share its refreshing flavor as living testaments to the one whose blood became our water and our satiation. The days are passing by quickly as they no longer seem to be 24 hours long. The Storm clouds are darkening, even if the sun is shining through your office window. I exhort all of us to wipe the grease from our mouths and then take a large swallow of the cool, refreshing water. We must then get up out of our chairs and walk. Upright and true, with bodies as living sacrifices, we must walk amongst the lost that they may be found as the Thundersnow is slowly but ever so steadily intensifying.

The exists an Emergent Church Labyrinth and if you are walking within its confines that have been created at the hand of man, please step outside of it now. Go ahead my friend, you can do it! Come and walk the straight path and not the circular. One can be forever lost within the mystical unholy confines of the Labyrinth and that can be death. Jesus does not stand at the center of this swirling path beset with barriers that block and redirect your journey. He is easily found on the straight and narrow path and ready to walk with you now!....(more here)

Thursday, March 17, 2011

In the stillness of the early morning our minds can wander. It seems that it is in those times of placidity that our minds are as hands touched by our souls - taken and being led - and we find ourselves before majestic mountains resplendent in greenery and likewise showered with snow; below breathtaking multi-hued twilight skies.

Have you seen rolling hills where green grass and all manner of flowers grow? Have you stood in awe before a gate, waiting to walk a narrow path bordered by trees with leaves of blue, purple, red, green, and gold? They are as willows, oaks, birches and more; but autumn is not the reason for the colorful if not unusual display of leaves.

Babbling brooks with cool water flow below these trees in diverse places; waterfalls rush down low hills as these streams originate as springs from the mountains that line a close horizon. As you move now, you encounter a different place; a meadow of tall golden grasses that sway on a gentle, warm breeze. A short distance out into the meadow there is a colossal oak tree that stands alone, between where you rest and the mountains that line the near horizon - but while that tree appears to be alone it is hardly so. And while you appear to be alone where you are, you sense that you are hardly alone and in that sense you are correct.(more here)

At the age of nine, I moved with my family from the hamlet of Howlett Hill, New York to the village of Warners, New York; a distance of approximately 9 miles. Both towns exist on the western side of Onondaga County and both border the town of Camillus - Howlett Hill being closest of the three aforementioned townships to the city of Syracuse.

The house in Howlett Hill still exists; albeit with considerable remodeling and many more neighboring structures than when this writer resided there as a child. The two-story house in Warners, built in the 1870's, has since been torn down to accommodate the widening of County Route 173 and the reconstruction of the Canton Street bridge over the CSX railroad tracks. Now you know the locations, but all in all, geography is not what is important to this story...(more here)

Sunday, March 6, 2011

US President Barack Obama, whose administration is red-faced over failing to predict the revolutions sweeping the Middle East, is now trying to paint the situation as positive for Israel.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/Portals/0/110306_uprisings.jpg

The forces taking over in Egypt “should be naturally aligned with Israel,” Obama naively told a gathering of Democratic donors in Miami on Friday. “I’m actually confident that 10 years from now we’re going to be able to look back potentially and say this was the dawning of an entirely new and better era.”

Obama continues to downplay comparisons with what is happening now in the Middle East and the Iranian pro-democracy revolution in 1979 that gave rise to the Islamic Republic. The White House has also all but ignored the return of Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi to Egypt after decades of exile.
But the Palestinians are paying attention, and have not shied away from acknowledging that the changes in the Middle East are actually more likely to reestablish a united Arab front against Israel...(more here)

We have been prone to second-guessing. Likewise, our spirits have been lacerated by the serrated edges of false hopes. Indeed, we have doubted and despaired and yet we know that there is no turning back.

We've quarreled amongst ourselves at times; blaming one another for the hunger and lack of an address. But, when we finally arrive home we will then know where we live. We've learned that all we have in this world is this moment and that nothing else is guaranteed. While others speak themselves into a prosperous existence in this world, we know that in fact all we have in this world is this moment and the ground below our feet.

As it turned out, the path that bore off into the brush was not a shortcut. The path looked beaten and easily tread, but it was nothing but a taunting mirage and we fell through the tree branch and root-covered trap down into this tunnel. Now, we go from cobweb-laden bunker to cobweb-laden bunker as the tunnel keeps us hidden from the wolves that desire to devour us. Yes, keeping us hidden may be God's purpose for this cold, dark tunnel and all of its inhospitable residents...(read more here)

Up out of the tunnel and into the sun....In this tunnel are gales and snowy cold. Cobwebs, spiders, centipedes, and dust exist in the freeze and seem unaffected. We've thought many times that we were onto the escape route but alas we were mistaken. It has seemed like we'll never get out of this tunnel.

We have wondered what acts we have committed that would condemn us to this underground existence. This is no life but in fact a mere subsistence. We have petitioned aloud "why God, why?" We have had angry fists shaken at us by the demons we've met, and conversely some scraps dropped through the street-side grates by the benevolent in order to help us along. Still, we are condemned here, looking for an escape into the sunlight...(more here)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

America is not God. America is of God, created by God, and in that it should trust in God. It seems that many in their patriotic fervor have placed America before God as something to worshipped as holier than He. Do not be deceived, God brought Ameria into this world and He will take it out.

This is a warning: Get your priorities straight. This writer loves America and there is no other place on Camp Earth that he would choose to reside. But, I also understand that America is a nation made up of and run by mortal men who do not deserve worship. There is no Tea Party, Republican Party, or Socialist-Democrat Party that can do the job of God or replace Him. This will be clearly demonstrated as the Storm ravages and America turns back to the Lord in fear and in ultimate reverence. Still, America will not be what it once was.

Those who expected a mighty miracle on November 2nd, 2010, will ultimately be disappointed - despite the positive change of power in the House of Representatives. As long as politicians of all parties are puffed-up on power and corruption and continue to shove their collective thumb into the eye of our Holy, Triune, God - economic, spiritual, and moral rope and chains will be the end result. Only the supernatural components of the growing Storm will truly serve to clean house and reorder priorities. Indeed, God will not be mocked and American mortals will reap what they sew...(more here)

MANILA, Philippines—A series of earthquakes which reached 5.7 magnitude rocked eastern Mindanao on Thursday, collapsing the walls of some houses and sending residents fleeing from their homes. There were no reports of injuries.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Friday that the moderately strong earthquake struck offshore, 54 km east of Surigao City.

Vice Mayor Alfred Arreza of Surigao del Sur’s Carrascal town said appliances tumbled and the walls of some houses collapsed when the quake struck late Thursday.

A wall of a church and a portion of a seawall also collapsed while a highway was damaged. (more here)

It's a rope that so many of us cling too; and some make it a demi-god. It's the chains that strongmen have wrapped around us in an effort to drag us off of the towpath that we wayfare and down into the

Some have so much of the thing that makes this world go 'round; and that thing is money. Oh, we all need it don't we? But, when does it become a rope of bondage? When does one cling to that rope in a death-grip for fear of losing? When does one see the bubbling cauldron of moderation with it's swirling goo below them, and they say "I'll have none of that! This is mine and I am afraid to slip down this rope and into that witch's brew! Please, please, please, mister, don't lower this rope! Noooooooooo!"

It is easy to serve the ropes and chains that bind us; whereby serving the men and the demons that wrap them around us. It is too easy to cling to that rope - climbing furiously into spiritual and physical fatigue - for fear of losing status and identity down in that cauldron. But what it really is about is control. So many want to be the binder who wraps the chains and who operates the pulley that raises and lowers the rope. So many want to control others because they are afraid of losing control. Yes, so many desire to manipulate in an effort to maintain a false perception of manliness. (More here...)

Friday, March 4, 2011

It has been a long, cold, lonely winter. For so many, it has been a mean season filled with discontent. It has been a season of poverty and loss; of wandering lost in a contemporary Egypt while seeking Moses to lead them to the promised land of milk and honey. So many have cried out to be lead out of the desert as they are thirsty…

It has been a season of increased deception as 2011 staggered punch-drunk into 2012. While they are told that Recession is over they know it to be true as it has instead become a Depression. While they are told that consumer confidence is up, they know it to be consumer desperation instead. Yes, they have been wandering in a contemporary Egypt for the last several years; and that wandering has become a dehydrated and tottering gait as the abominable winter of 2011 - like a sinister leper – has left pieces of itself in the desert sand in 2012. Snow and sand, hunger and thirst; it has bruised the spirits of those who believe and shortened the tempers of those who reject the Word.

Spring time is coming and with it wellsprings of fresh, living water will flow. There cannot be resurrection without first a death, and death has been strewn about us in its malodorous decomposition. But now is the time for life anew! We will rise up on wings like eagles…

We look upon dry streambeds and see hopelessness. We chip away at icy windshields and crack the glass below - and in that our vision is impaired. It has been a season of sand and snow; hot desperate thirst in a paradoxical icy windburn. But, we will know resurrection as we will rise up on wings like eagles! Yes, indeed, spring time is coming and the sun will melt the savage winter’s icy fingers and it will release its clutch. One day, we will be free and that day is coming with hope springing eternal…

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed;- Luke 4:18

Thousands of files with details of UFO sightings and an "alien abduction" in London have been released for the first time by the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD).

The previously classified files contain more than 8,500 pages that reveal the UFO phenomenon has been discussed at the highest levels of governments worldwide -- and in 1979 the UK House of Lords held Parliament's only ever full debate among lawmakers on the subject Sky News reported.

The files, which also contain pictures, described how for a few hours in 1967 a "War Of The Worlds"-style incident was treated as a potentially real alien invasion of the UK.

Another startling revelation: In the months before the September 11 attacks in 2001, 15 unidentified aircraft were detected on radar approaching the UK, one detected on the actual day. In another case a man told the MoD he believed he had been beamed up by an alien craft from his home in southwest London.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

We keep journeying on because we have too. We continue to push on because we want to. Indeed, this journey through life is fantastic and phantasmagorical one moment and dull and colorless the next. Mostly, our days and times exist somewhere in the middle of the two aforementioned extremes. No matter what is stashed in our backpacks this day, we've got to carry it forward and press on toward that moment when we unstrap those straps and throw it all down.

What can be worse than travelling alone, just to hear the snapping and rustling of the bushes along your path as you walk into nightfall? What is it that is moving through those bushes, keeping pace with you? What was that growling noise -- was it some creature or just your stomach?

No one wants to travel on this journey solo, even when they claim that they just want to be left alone. Everyone desires a friend or two or four to walk and talk with while putting the feet, yards, and miles behind them as they carry on and carry forward. Each of us needs someone to take in the scenery with; even when that scenery is less than captivating. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? And, aren't we each beautiful in our own way, just as God made us? No matter how macho a man or how feminine of a woman you may be, you still want someone to tell you that you are beautiful and that you are loved. What you do not want and what you inwardly fear is that you'll have to finish this journey on your own -- feeling alone, rejected and vulnerable.

Indeed, you fear being alone on that path, burdened by the weight of your pack, not being able to muster the foot speed to outrun what is rustling through the brush; making its way toward you. It turned out that your friends weren’t truly friends at all but just drinking buddies. They were there when the good times were flowing on a sudsy 2 for 1 stream, but now that there is fear and insecurity to combat, where are those so-called friends? Now that you don't know who or what you are, who is there to validate you?

There it is again, the snapping and rustling noises in the bush that indicate that something or someone is moving in there. It stops when you stop and then starts again when you resume walking. Whatever it is, it seems to be toying with you.

You cry out "who is in those bushes!?" Perhaps a more accurate question would be "what is in those bushes?" It seems to be keeping pace with you while a tentative gait is all your wobbly, nervous legs will allow. You want to run, but your legs are like those belonging to Gumby.
Fear is gripping your heart but you are denying it. You've survived up to this day by denying that you are in denial. Denial has been your modus operandi since you made that right-turn off of Jump Street to begin trekking down this path. Denial isn't going to keep you safe anymore. Your day of reckoning has been dropped on you like a Steinway piano from the sky, with a dissonant clang that will not allow you to hear the whispers of your pretty self-delusion.

Your eyes are drawn back to the path, and there are four men up ahead of you. They turn, see you, and begin walking toward you. Now there are four strangers approaching in addition to whatever is shadowing you in those bushes. You’d like to scream, but your throat is tight with fear.
Outside of your periphery a dove, pure and vividly white, lands a high branch of a Willow tree that grows on the bank of the frozen over ditch-like body of water that runs parallel to the left of this snow-covered path you are walking.

Gavin never called again. And, if there is a Goodtime Charlie, he is a con-artist trained by the king of con-artists. Dammit, you need something real! You need someone to walk with you the rest of the way through your life, being there through thick and thin and loving you with deep, abiding devotion.

And what is in those bushes is hideous and ugly. It is hungry...Order it today!

The single most astonishing fact about foreign exchange is not the high volume of transactions, as incredible as that growth has been. Nor is it the volatility of currency rates, as wild as the markets are these days.
Instead, it's the extent to which the market remains dollar-centric.

Consider this: When a South Korean wine wholesaler wants to import Chilean cabernet, the Korean importer buys U.S. dollars, not pesos, with which to pay the Chilean exporter. Indeed, the dollar is virtually the exclusive vehicle for foreign-exchange transactions between Chile and Korea, despite the fact that less than 20% of the merchandise trade of both countries is with the U.S...(more here)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Lord will move and He will work. There will be miracles that occur during the height of the Storm that is growing and gathering now; although many are not yet feeling the bitter cold breezes of this intensifying

I cannot claim to know the mind of the Lord, as His thoughts are not my thoughts nor are my ways His ways. And yet, out of the economic collapse and social upheaval will come healing and life for some who are in need - if they make the choice to be healed and saved. From physical injury and pain will come spiritual repair and renewal as the Lord holds and comforts those who will realize through pain and loss that He should have been their first choice and not the last resort; but in that last resort undertaken in desperate moments they will sincerely cry out for Him in newborn faith. From that point of utter desperation some will get up and run while not growing weary; pacing into a walk for their remaining days that will not make them faint but instead lead them into eternity...(more here)

The sudden swarm of earthquakes in Arkansas -- including the largest quake to hit the state in 35 years -- is very possibly an after effect of natural-gas drilling, experts warn.

At issue is a practice called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," in which water is injected into the ground at high pressure to fracture rock and release natural gas trapped within it.

Geologists don't believe the fracking itself is a problem. But Steve Horton, an earthquake specialist at the University of Memphis and hydrologic technician with the U.S. Geological Survey, is worried by a correlation between the Arkansas earthquake swarm and a side effect of the drilling: the disposal of wastewater in injection wells.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

It has indeed been a long, cold, lonely winter. The season itself has been beastly and dispiriting; with heavy snow, ice, wind, and cold gripping us in its solemn gray clutches and squeezing our spiritual, moral, and

The times have been abominable; much of the world has been inflamed by riots and torment and yet the heat of that fury has not brought warmth but only pain. Struggle has visited more households than any time in recent memory, and instead of merely stopping by for coffee it has taken up long-term residence in the very foundation of so many homes. With Struggle has come his sidekick Strife and he is no better of a guest but instead a villain in his own right...(more here)

Someone said to me one time, “oh you conspiracy people, you just like stirring people up.” Well, I must admit, I do enjoy “stirring people up” if it’s a means of motivating someone to wake up and see the walls closing in around them so they have a chance to do something about it before it’s too late. For years now, rumors of the National ID Card, known as the REAL ID ACT, have been building and building, and I am here to tell you folks that it’s not a rumor, it’s a fact. And that fact becomes reality in May of 2011. So buckle up and pay attention to what I am about to show you.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Most Americans think that the political upheaval spreading throughout the Arab world may wind up drawing the United States into a new large-scale war, a Rasmussen Reports poll found. The poll also found most Americans favor cutting off aid to Arab countries.

A new national telephone survey found that 58% of American adults believe the unrest in the Middle East will lead to a major war involving the US, with 26% saying it is "very likely."
Thirty-one percent see such a scenario as "unlikely," but that number includes only four percent who say it is "not at all likely."

Seventy-seven percent of Americans are "concerned that radical Islamic terrorists may try to exploit the unrest in these countries to further their violent aims," versus 18% who do not share that concern, Rasmussen Reports said. These numbers include 53% who are "very concerned" and only 4% who are "not at all concerned."

Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan predicted on Sunday that America faces imminent uprisings that mirror those in the Middle East.

“What you are looking at in Tunisia, in Egypt … Libya, in Bahrain … what you see happening there … you’d better prepare because it will be coming to your door,” Farrakhan said in a booming voice, thousands of followers cheering in his wake.

Farrakhan also called on President Barack Obama to allow protesters to march, urging the president not to attack innocent people when they do.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Some would wonder how you could have survived such a wreck; let alone be able to crawl out of the crumpled vehicle. Certainly, there are lacerations and abrasions marking your body but they aren't sever enough to kill or maim you' still they will leave mental and spiritual scars.

You knew the road was icy and overall driving conditions were rapidly deteriorating. Still, you had to get behind the wheel as you would every day, but perhaps a more thorough job of brushing the snow and scraping the ice from your windshield may have afforded better enough visibility to avoid this terrible crash? Maybe if you had taken the prescribed path as opposed to driving the less-traveled more risky road, this accident may not have happened? You could contemplate and cogitate on the what-ifs until you'd be blue in the face, but the bottom line is that the mishap took place and it totaled your vehicle. Still, you were able by the grace of God to crawl out and start walking!

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea threatened Sunday to enlarge its nuclear arsenal and mercilessly attack South Korea and the United States, as the allies prepared to start annual joint military drills which the North says are a rehearsal for an invasion.

North Korea routinely issues similar threats against South Korea and the U.S. over any joint military drills. The latest warning, however, could rekindle tensions on the Korean peninsula which sharply rose last year after two deadly incidents blamed on the North.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Nation of Islam, long known for its promotion of black nationalism and self-reliance, now is calling attention to another core belief that perhaps isn't so well-known: the existence of UFOs.

When thousands of followers gather in suburban Chicago this weekend for the group's annual Saviours' Day convention, one of the main events will include a panel of scientists discussing worldwide UFO sightings, which they claim are on the rise.

The idea of seeking the divine in the skies is deeply rooted in the Chicago-based Nation of Islam, whose late leader Elijah Muhammad detailed in speeches and writings a massive hovering object loaded with weapons he called "The Mother Plane" - although religion experts, Nation of Islam leaders and believers offer very different interpretations of what exactly happens aboard the plane, its role or how it fits into religious teachings.

AZA CITY (AFP) – Israeli warplanes bombed militant training camps in the Gaza Strip for a second time Saturday, wounding four people, including a toddler, Palestinian officials and medics said.

The jets hit two training camps of the Ezzedine al-Qassem Brigades, the armed wing of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement, in the southern city of Rafah, Hamas security officials said.

A family of four, including an 18-month-old girl, were lightly wounded, after their vehicle was hit by shrapnel as they were driving by one of the targets, Adham Abu Selmiya, a spokesman for the Hamas-run rescue services, told AFP.

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that Russia will fullfill its contractual obligation and complete the transfer of cruise missiles to Syria, reported AFP on Saturday.

According to the report, news agencies in Moscow said the Kremlin did not intend to withdraw from the deal signed between the two countries in 2007, despite the objections of Israel and the United States.